In one conventional removable storage technique, a flash memory storage device is removably coupled to a host computer via a communication port. The storage device includes special internal circuitry that encrypts and decrypts data stored to and retrieved from the device by the host computer. The storage device's internal circuitry prohibits access to the encrypted data in the device unless the user of the host computer provides the user's password. Unfortunately, this conventional technique cannot be implemented using a storage device that does not include such specialized internal circuitry, and the use of such specialized circuitry undesirably increases the cost and complexity of the storage device.
In another conventional technique, software executing in the host computer and host OS encrypts and decrypts the data. Since the encryption is performed in host OS software the keys used for encryption are easily visible to all other software which includes malware running on the platform. Thus the malware can easily obtain the keys during runtime and can use them in turn to break into the encrypted data stored on the removable flash storage device.
Although the following Detailed Description will proceed with reference being made to illustrative embodiments, many alternatives, modifications, and variations thereof will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, it is intended that the claimed subject matter be viewed broadly.